


Invitation

by SpaceAsthmatic



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Banter, Best Friends, Bonding, Boys Being Boys, Brotherly Bonding, Cavetroll, Developing Friendships, Friend Adventures, Friendship, Fun, Lindon (Tolkien), Male Bonding, Male Friendship, Minor Violence, Mischief, Planning Adventures, Second Age, Second Kinslaying | Sack of Doriath, Silm - Freeform, Sweet, Swordfighting, Swords, Trolls, Wargs (Tolkien), Young Ferdan, Young Thranduil, invited, post-Second Kinslaying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24269305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceAsthmatic/pseuds/SpaceAsthmatic
Summary: A young, bored Thranduil and his friend Ferdan appear at Galions house in the middle of the night to convince him to come on an adventure with them and it ends up....oddly just as predicted it would go.  But with one important difference
Relationships: Galion & Thranduil (Tolkien), Galion& Original male characters, Thranduil (Tolkien) & Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!! I love reading your thoughts and reactions!!

The are was strong, fresh, and crisp scent in the air as the two friends made their way down the street, jostling and bumping one another playfully as they went. Their near contentious laughter ran down the streets in all directions, at least it was at an acceptable volume for the late hour. Most of the time, there was the occasional 'shh' drifting at them from an open window but they minded not at all. They had spent near the entire walk from their house adding joke after joke to an original concept that already had them nearly in tears with laughter.   
The wheezes of desperate breathes mingled with the laughs that managed somehow to continue to squeeze out was once a common occurrence in the place that they lived, but that had been before they had seen the white walls of their city stained red. Twice. Over some cursed jewel they should have never had anything to do with in the first place. Twice.   
But to the silent relief of all that lived with them in this new city and new home, the sound was finally becoming less of a scarcity.   
By the time they reached their destination, Thranduil was nearly forced to crawl along the stone roadway with the occasional tear still dripping from his eyes. Meanwhile Ferdan leaned nearly all his upper body weight on his bent knee's, attempting to take long and deep breaths to calm himself. Considering his breathes were continually interrupted by laughter, it wasn't working very well.   
"What is wrong with you?" Ferdan asked, breathless.   
"I don't know," Thranduil wheezed around his now silent hysterics, "Let me know if you ever figure it out."   
Ferdan did a remarkably good impression of Thranduil's voice, "Isn't that what mountains are for?'"   
"Isn't it?" Thranduil demanded, scandalized but still laughing, "Tell me I'm wrong!"   
There was not an ounce of hesitation, "You're wrong."   
"Now only tell me if I'm actually wrong," Thranduil corrected.   
"The way I look at it, " Ferdan began, finally starting to compose himself, "Similar to the way an incorrect clock is right twice a day, you are wrong ten times a day. So you are always wrong."   
"Oh, why did Eru have to curse me with you?" Thranduil asked.   
"Revenge." Ferdan answered with heavily implied simplicity.   
"And I suppose that's why you're stuck with me also?" Thranduil asked his long time friend, both of them finding the correct house and stopping in front of it.   
"No."   
"Then why?"   
Ferdan didn't even glance at him, "For some future horrible crime that I have not yet committed, but which Mandos could find no fitting punishment for other than saddling me with your prescience for eternity."   
Thranduil snorted and rolled his eyes, "If I am here as a punishment, would that not make me on the right side of the Valar? Thus meaning they would not need to get revenge on my behavior?"  
"Maybe," Ferdan began with a wicked grin, "But then you learned how to talk and you blew that shot all on your own."   
"At least I am not anticipating doing some great crime."   
"How dare you!" Ferdan exclaimed, nine different shades of scandalized, "I anticipate on doing many great crimes."   
Lightly, Thranduil began tossing a few tiny pebbles against a dark window, its occupant obviously either asleep or out and about elsewhere. After he threw four of them to absolutely no effect Ferdan could not help but comment, "I'm going to laugh if you're wrong and this isn't his house."   
As another two rocks came and went with no response, Thranduil said with an obvious grin in his voice, "I'm going to laugh if its the right house but wrong window and we wake up his father."   
"What do you mean 'we,' Princeling? He can't do anything to you, but me on the other hand..."   
Thranduil paused in his assault of the window and looked back at his friends face in the shimmering darkness of the few candles that burned to light the city, "And what is that suggesting?"   
"That if you really are that stupid, and we get caught then I have no relationship with you. I don't know who you are, I was just and innocent passerby who was trying to get you to leave this poor family to peace."   
"You have never once been an innocent bystander to anything in your entire life," Thranduil retorted.   
"I was before I met you, actually," Ferdan countered with crossed arms.   
Thranduil opened his mouth as if preparing to throw another insult back to him, but the squeaking of a window opening cut their conversation to silence in seconds. They both looked up, bumping elbows against one another lightly in a silent agreement to their usual wager when it came to bets.   
"Are you two insane?" A voice reprimanded from above, a very disgruntled looking Galion finally appearing outside of his window.   
The two of them answered as one, while Ferdan flicked a coin to Thranduil, "Yes."   
Galion just continued to scrutinize them from above, "Can I help you?"   
"Come down," Thranduil said.   
Ferdan added, "And get dressed to go out beyond the walls. If I see any sleeping clothes I'll kill you."   
Galion just gave them another confused look but his head soon vanished from the window and after perhaps three and half minutes of lingering in the empty street, Galion finally appeared in his doorway. Silent as a mouse and obviously trying to be so, he closed to door behind him and crept down the path.   
"We have an audience," Ferdan commented, indicating with his chin towards the window next to Galion's where three head's where clearly trying to spy on the happenings below them without being spotted by them either.   
Galion didn't have to turn and look to know the answer, "My sisters. I ask again, can I help you?"   
But Thranduil ignored him, instead turning his own head to look at Ferdan, "All day I deal with 'What do you want's' and 'Why do I have to be the one to do that' but I appear in the middle of the night and suddenly he's the picture of politeness and grace? Typical."   
"Perhaps its situational. We did appear in the middle of the night and blatantly answered that we're insane, whats the best way to placate an insane individual? Be pleasant to them."   
Thranduil thought this over momentarily, "A valid point you have.   
"I'm going back inside," Galion grumbled and turned to make his way back up the short walkway to the door.   
Still ignoring the newly acquired third party, Ferdan said to Thranduil, "Look at him go before he even finds out where we were going to invite him. Oh well," He turned away with artfully feigned indifference, "Lets go Thran."  
"Does it count towards my paid hours if I come back to listen?"   
"Sure, why not." Ferdan answered.  
To which Thranduil replied, "You aren't even the one' that employs him!"   
"Details," Ferdan waved a hand dismissively around, clearing the accusing words from his vicinity of his air.   
Against his better judgment Galion turned around and walked back to the two lunatics on his lawn that he also just so happened to be forced to spend most of nearly every day with them. Not that he would have had much better offers from anybody else any time soon. And not for lack of offers, which his friends were starting to finding both annoying and insulting.   
The few friends that he had anyways.   
He looked between the two of them expectantly, "Well?"   
"We're going to go defend the hatching river turtles from predators in the woods," Thranduil informed him cheerfully, well, as cheerfully as he allowed himself to outwardly get.   
"Wow," Galion dead panned, "You two really are insane."   
"First off, if it has taken you this long to notice, that is your own fault and not yours," Ferdan began in a matter of fact tone. When he continued, his eyes practically turned into accusing slits and his voice matched, "And who doesn't want to save newborn river turtles? Absolute monsters, that's who. Heartless blocks of stone. You would probably laugh as an owl swept off with it."   
"How -- I don't see what I've said to suddenly become a baby turtle murderer."   
"Its not what you said," Thranduil replied, "But what you didn't say."   
"Which was that you would come and help us protect them, and instead called us insane for even wanting to do so. How rude." Ferdan said, apparently deciding that Thranduil had not been quite clear enough.   
Galion frowned, "Yes, I don't plan on putting myself directly between a hungry predator and its meal."  
"Don't worry Galion, Thranduil and I won't let any ferrets or rats come and steal you away to replace the little, tiny, baby turtle, that it planned originally." Ferdan hardly manged to finish his sentences with a straight face, but he did not terribly.   
"I'm not worried about the ferrets thank you. I have very unfavorable luck, and so there is a high chance that I'll get between a mountain troll or something equally awful and its meal." Galion defended himself with enough passion that he forgot to keep his voice down and one of his sister shushed him from the window above them.  
Galion gave them a dirty look, and two rude gestures were returned to him and a softly whispered insult from above drifted down to the three delinquents standing in the dark.   
"Well, we won't let mountain troll eat you either," Ferdan said without hesitation.   
"The two of you?" Galion asked.  
"To be honest," Thranduil rested a kind hand on Galion's hand, "It would probably take only one of us to protect you from a mountain troll. I have faced a son of Feanor in battle and was the one to slay him.   
He bent his elbow and a ninety degree angle and held it up, slowly moving it to the left until Thranduil's hand was forced to slid pathetically off of his shoulders, "Your condescending tone is not encouraging."   
"That wasn't condescedning!" Thranduil immediately objected.   
The same time that Ferdan snorted and said, "Trust me, you would know when he is being condescending. You'll suddenly taste salt and won't be able to figure out why. "   
Without pause, Thranduil added, "It will linger on your tongue for weeks."   
"Ruins every meal," Ferdan added.  
Thranduil smirked, "It's meant to."   
Galion looked between the two of them again in confusion, but this time he tried his best not to show any of it. He did not understand why they were here, why they were inviting him into the fold of this scheme. He had watched many of them unfold from a distance, or rather, he had seen the repercussions of their decisions the next day when Oropher had to deal with them. But no matter how many times he had witnessed the aftermath, he had never gotten even the slightest hint that their mischief ever involved anybody but the two of them.   
So why would they invite him?   
He knew that he ought to be flattered, but history had taught him that these kinds of situations usually meant that something had been planned to cause you personal misfortune. Galion had never pegged Thranduil as the type for such back stabbing thing, but then again he had not thought the others who had done it to him to be capable of it either.   
"What's wrong?" Thranduil asked with complete seriousness for one of the few times Galion had ever heard since his service had started with the prince thee years ago.   
"Nothing," He replied immediately.   
"I really was not trying to be condescending."   
That was also one of the few times he had witnessed Thranduil care about the impact his words had on those around him, "I know, I did not take it as such. "  
Thranduil frowned with obliviously thorough confusion, peppered heavily with flecks of genuine concern. But Galion did could not even begin to think about how he might explain the uniquely horrible sensation that he was currently being forced to endure against his will.   
"Its not trick, Galion. I swear," Ferdan said without prompting, which shocked Galion so much he nearly fell over, "It is a genuinely request for your company from two hears that genuinely want it."   
Galion had heard that promise many times too, but when he looked into Ferdan's eyes he saw the deep understanding that could only come from a heart that had experienced the same orchestrated humiliation as him. The same insult's, hurts, lingering insecurities.   
Galion asked, "How would we get past the city walls?"   
"How dare you say such a thing in our presences," Ferdan scolded openly, starting to walk back up the street the way they had come.   
"We managed to sneak out of a city that had an enchantment from a Maiar on it, trust us, getting out of here is going to be so low on our list of problems it will not even makes the list to begin with."   
Trailing after them Galion could not help but ask, "And what do you think will the be greatest of our problems then?"   
He could hear the knowing smirk in Ferdan's voice, "Oropher, if he decides to check our room and finds both of our beds are empty and neither of us are anywhere to be seen."  
Galion wished that he could find laughter in that sentence, but all he found was stomach dropping fear. Ferdan insisted that the feeling would fade, but at this present moment in time, Galion was still fairly convinced that Oropher was the most intimidating creature on Arda.   
Inlcuding Morgoth.   
And he highly doubted that feeling would ever change, nor did he think that Oropher wanted it to. 

Galion would never be able to articulate to anybody the extent of his consuming frustration at the fact that Thranduil had been entirely honest and had not boasted about their capabilities in the slightest. Thus far, Galion had never managed to get out of the city since his literal birth, and not through lack of effort. Yet the two of them didn't even so much as blink., sneeze, or breath and suddenly they were outside the city.   
Unnoticed.  
Galion turned to his companions, "You two are terrifying."   
They gave him matching grins and answers, "Thanks!"   
"Ugh," Galion grumbled, "I hate that you both took it as a compliment."   
"You hate a lot of things about us," Ferdan said, "Its just white noise at this point."   
"I'm pretty sure at least sixty percent of what other people say to Thranduil sounds like white noise," Galion practically sighed.  
"Hmm?" Thranduil asked mild, "Did you say something? I wasn't listening."   
"Its a good thing you think you're funny, Thranduil, because nobody else does." Galion said.   
"Ferdan laughs!"   
"And only half of it is out of pity," Ferdan interrupted before anybody else could say anything.   
Thranduil raised and eyebrow at Ferdan with challenge, "Bold of you to say anything about pity, considering you were literally shackled when we met and I got you out of it."   
"And I have put up with you everyday since then, so we are even ."   
Wait," Galion interrupted before they could carry on with their bickering, "Why were you in shackles?"   
"The start of his great crime spree, yet to be finished." Thranduil answered.   
Galion was expecting Ferdan to defend himself or expalin the situation at least when he opened his mouth, instead however, all he said was, "Exactly."   
Galion thought about asking more questions but went with asking, "How much farther," instead before the insanity could continue.   
"Only anther half an hour or so, relax." Thranduil answered, rolling his eyes.   
Galion replied, "I'm just worried about my sanity."   
"Just get rid of it," Ferdan suggested, "Nothing to worry about if it doesn't exist."   
"Is that what you two did?" Galion asked.   
"Bold of you to assume I was born with any sanity to begin with," Thranduil stated.   
"I was born with his and mine," Ferdan began, then shrugged, "Still lost them both somewhere along the way."   
"How comforting it is to be deep int the woods with the two of you," Galion mumbled, "What could possibly go wrong?"   
With a cackle, Ferdan moved ahead of their small troop, "Then maybe you should start being nice to use again, just saying." 

Galion had to admit - reluctantly - that he was glad they had appeared on his property in the middle of the night and drug him out. He had lost track of the last time he had such a genuinely good time, nor the last time he laughed so hard.  
Even if he tried to keep up his annoyed ruse.  
"How do you think your father is going to react to the news that his son is a mother now?" Galion asked, watching as Thranduil tried and failed to removed several young frogs from his limbs. No sooner had their feet touched the ground would they jump back on him again.   
"It won't be the first time, I'm sure it won't be the last." Ferdan replied mildly.   
"Oh? Galion asked, "What else has he adopted?"   
Ferdan turned to Thranduil, "I'm not sure. Thran, what have you not adopted yet?"   
Even after a while of deep thought Thranduil could not think of anything and finally gave up and said to the others, "Let me know if you two can think of anything."   
"Why do you not ask your father when you return home?" Galion asked, and both Thranduil and Ferdan were laughing before the sentence and even fully left his moth.   
"Because even if he could think of something," Thranduil began, "He would never tell me out of fear of me going out to to prove him wrong."   
Galion had to laugh, Oropher was not always known for his foresight. But in Galion's experience he had never shown anything but extreme foresight when it came to Thranduil. Although Galion supposed that could have a significant amount to do with Orophers survival instincts sensing the unstoppable creature that lurked within his son. Just waiting for the scent of blood to hit the water.   
Funnily enough, Thranduil was not the only who whom he had met that seemed to have cultivated this monster. He was, however, the only one who seemed able to control it better than the monster controlled him. Likely that's why his was so much more terrifying.  
"Oh no, I'm coming little thing!" Thranduil exclaimed with deep sympathy. Using all the grace that Eru gifted the elves to carefully removed a baby turtle that appeared to have gotten stuck under rocks as they rolled down the embankment.   
Carefully he cradled him in one hand as he carefully inspected the damage with the other, it almost seemed as if his eyes might even have been threatening to tear up. The prognoses must not have been good, "I think three of his flippers are broken. And his shell is cracked, but somehow he is still breath. I dont know how, but he is."   
Ferdan moved over for a closer inspection and to offer suggestoins but Galion stayed a greater distance away. Internally he told himself it was to ensure that no predators tired to sneak out of the forest while they weren't looking, but he knew the real reason.   
He had never seen death, pain, or suffering before. Not really, not the real kind. Not the kind that steals your breath, your warmth, then your smile. And the thought of seeing it for the first time in such a soft innocent creature was enough to turn his stomach.   
Even form here though he could smell the blood, and so he wandered up wind from them to get away from the smell. Aimlessly walking across the riverbank with not particular destination nor duty in mind, other than to get away. He did not notice how far he had wandered until he nearly bumped directly into the side of the rock wall the river ran against.   
To be honest though, Galion was confused as to why he had not fully collide with the rocks, as that tended to be the result from his wandering and daydreaming. But something else had caught his attention then, but what could it be?   
He paused his steps to listen and examine his surroundings but couldn't hear a single thing that might have disturbed him, he was moving on to searching the area around with his eyes when it dawned on him what the problem was.   
He began to slowly back away from the rocks and back towards Thranduil and Ferdan.   
There was no sound to disturb him, because there was no sound at all outside of gentle rumbling and swishing of the river. Not a single frog, cricket, bird, owl, wolf, or otherwise living thing could be heard. Not even by an elf. Stareing into the dark forest and rocks around them was only making him more scared and so he turned around so that he could look towards his friends.   
He told himself over and over silently that it was nothing, that he had just spooked himself over nothing.   
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end half a second before he heard Thranduil and Ferdan drawing their weapons. Which he supposed should probably have comforted him considering their skill but it did nothing but instill more deep and ratting terror.   
His teeth chattered with it, and his knee's quaked him over the rocks.   
"Galion," Thranduil said calmly, "I know you're scared but you need to move just a little be faster, alright? Not too fast, just a little faster."   
"And don't look behind you," Ferdan interrupted urgently when Galion went to do that exact thing.   
Galion tried to do as he was instructed, quickening his steps but only a little. Continuing at the same pace when both of them nodded encouragingly, but he hated that the entire time their eyes were staring somewhere beyond him. Once he started to finally get closer to his friends and guides Thranduil began to make a measured and clearly well practiced approach to him.   
Sword in hand and a determined look on his face.   
When Thranduil reached him, he roughly shoved Galion behind him and kept one hand on his shoulder to ensure that he was aware of his position continuously. Or maybe to make sure he didn't look behind him. Probably both.   
Thranduil didn't release his hold until the felt Ferdan grab his arm and yank him quickly and forcibly backwards at a great pace, while Thranduil continue to ensure that whatever was there had no plans to follow attack during this strategic retreat.   
Once he was apparently satisfied, Ferdan released him and pushed something into Galion's hands, "Hold this," before slowly approaching to stand beside Thranduil several feet away.   
Had they not been in this current situation, it seemed likely that Galion would have noticed the absurdity about the fact that the object Ferdan had handed him was the injured turtle. It looked up to him with extremely wide and trusting eyes.   
All Galion could make himself do was look to where the other two stood with extreme hesitation, then past and close to where he had just been standing. The sudden urge to pass-out when his eyes landed on two trolls each with some sort of snarling doglike monster at their side, with thick ropes tied around their necks staring at them from across the dried waterbed.   
"I thought you said we didn't have mountain trolls here?" Galion somehow managed to drag the question out of his personally freighted vocal cords.  
Drool dripped from the hungry mouths of all four creatures.  
"We don't," Ferdan answered flatly.   
Pure rage and confidence oozed out of Thranduil and Ferdan.   
Thranduil finished the though, "We do however, get the occasional cave troll. Not near as smart, but bigger and stronger. And twice as ugly."  
Galion didn't want to ponder what he himself might be about to ooze or drip at any moment at all.   
Not moving any part of his body Thranduil called back to him, "Galion?"   
"Yeah?" He could both feel and hear the shake in his voice.   
"If this starts to go bad, and you'll know quick if it does, jump in that river and float away."   
"What?" Galion demanded, even more dumbstruck than before, "And leave you two here?"   
"Yes!" Ferdan snapped more sharply than Galion would have ever liked to hear in his lifetime, "What are you going to do? Throw a rock at his shin?"   
Galion was about to protest that they were the ones who had brought him out here in the first place, but the troll took that opportunity to let out an abrasive cry of anger. And Thranduil took the opportunity to say into the lingering silence that now filled the air, "Awh, you hurt its feelings. Maybe its a girl?"  
"Don't move until after we do, Galion." He added afterwards in a voice more firm and commanding than Galion had ever heard, and he was his first attendant. Thranduil leaned more heavily into his legs in order to prepare for the assault he must have sensed was about to start soon.   
A part of Galion could not help but wish in the past to have witnessed the true powers that were the two elves he had come beyond the walls with, after hearing so many heartfelt stories about their valor. Separate and combined. Now he would do anything to take those wishes back. Anything.  
If only Eru was that nice. 

"This is going to be so unpleasant," Ferdan muttered still eyeing the trolls with scalding suspicion, "So, so unpleasant."   
Thranduil could not resist, "Like your personality."   
Ferdan shook his head grimly, "Worse than that. Like your personality in the morning."   
Even Thranduil winced at that description, "Do you want the trolls, or the Wargs?"   
Ferdan made a noise of displeasure, "How about we get one each?"   
With another roar of enraged anguish at their threats being holey ignored aside from one trembling elf and turtle, the Trolls began their charge forward with jarringly thunderous steps. They released the rope that held the Wargs, and the beasts raced ahead of their masters with eager and snapping mouths leading the way.   
They were moving too fast for Thranduil and him to not split the assault, knowing that he was faster due to his past life as thief and general ruffian, Ferdan grunted, "I got the mongrels."   
"I've got ugly one and somehow uglier two then," Thranduil sighed, getting ready for Ferdan to engage the animals so that he could dart around them and attack the much slower advancing trolls.   
There was a horribly loud snarl as one of the Wargs leaped for Ferdan, who with complete elegance, feigned to fall over with fear at the last second to the confusion the beast before rolling to the side and springing himself back up again.   
Knowing that he did not have much time before they firmly set their sights on the most helpless of their group, poor Galion, Ferdan didn't give them a chance to regain their footing nor their bearings before he began to spring directly at them with full force and speed. Obliviously confused by his actions, they didn't react fast enough and Ferdan threw one of his throwing knives with deadly precision.   
Quite literally.   
Ferdan knew that for certain the when the knife sank up the hilt in the monsters eye and it fell to the ground with nothing more than a loud thud on impact. Its partner and most likely mate howled with a mixture of rage, pain, and something that could only have been heartbreak.   
"Don't worry little fella," Ferdan began, spinning to the right and out of snapping distance while also striking out to his left at the Warg's side. Finishing with slightly gritted teeth, "You'll go and meet her again soon."   
As he finished the sentence he took a powerful step forwards and knelt to a lower angle to brace his sword better and protect the vital veins that lived inside his throat, and felt the Warg begin to impale itself on his sword.   
But this one was smart, smarter than most anyways, and more in control of its body weight and movement and it managed to stop itself before the sword could inflict any killing wounds. With great force, both of will and body, the Warg managed to pull itself off the sword with one fluid movement.   
Ferdan watched with a disgust with disgust written into ever line of his face, "Horrifying, to say the least."   
In response the Warg opened its mouth widely but only on the sides, as if smiling with some sort of pride with itself, then it slashed forwards with both a giant mouth and ferocious looking paw.   
With even worse claws. 

Thranduil darted around Ferdan and the beasts, and went right for their masters. Unlike most, he ran directly at them. Dodging a poorly aimed swing form a giant club from the female, and what seemed to be nothing more than a huge rock clutched in his hand from the male.   
As he began to grow uncomfortably close to them, he pretended to move left just long enough for the female troll to start that way too, and create enough room between them for him to slide between. Rather than drawing his sword like Ferdan, he had chosen instead to use his two smaller swords, slicing one of each of their ankles to the bone with the momentum added to the force of his attack.  
They both shrieked with pain, looking down to their feet with confusion.   
Thranduil took that opportunity to leap to his feet and do the same thing to their monstrous thighs on the opposite leg, only this time not with quite enough force to touch the bone. But enough to make them scream again and whirl around with arms, a club, and a rock swinging wildly in all directions.   
But Thranduil had been expecting this and had ducked down out of their thoughtless reach, and took the few moments it took for their eyes to find him to assault the front of their angles nearly as bad as the backs. This time on the same feet.   
Blood had begun to pour from both of their legs with enthusiasm but experience and drilled in knowledge told him that it would never be enough to take down a troll. So he prepared for another attack, catching the slight backwards motion of the females arm that held the club and prepared his plan for the next attack.   
Waiting until pretty much the last possible second, he leaned backwards so the club just barley missed his face. But held both his swords upright, directly in the path of the swinging arm. He let the trolls own strength do his job for him.   
The arm fell to the ground just below the elbow with a wet thud, and the female troll didn't even seem able of shrieking this time. Just staring at him in dumb shock over what he had just done to her.   
Wasting no time, Thranduil threw one of his knives at her face with extreme precision and the rest of her body soon joined her arm on the rocks.   
Sent into a near wild and rabid frenzy at the sight, the male hurled his rock at him with all the force in his body. Forcing Thranduil to duck in order to avoid decapitation. But the time he was able to regain his sense, the rock hard body of the troll slammed into him. The ground slammed back just as hard when he collided with it. 

Ferdan somehow managed to block the claws with his sword, and move his shoulder fast enough to keep the creatures mouth from clamping down onto it. But the Warg used Ferdan's defense to its advantage and curled its paw around him enough to send him flying onto his back.   
One particularity vengeful and sharp rock forced all the air out of his lungs. And the Warg knew it.   
He could hear the small growl of pleasure that it made deep in its throat as it began to approach him again, satisfied with itself. Ferdan looked around desperately for his sword but found it laying several feet away from him, and even farther from Galion otherwise he might have asked him to fetch it for him.   
The Warg leaped for him but Ferdan managed to put his legs to his chest to at least be able to push it to his side as soon as it landed again. Yellowed teeth still flecked with bits of rotten meat stuck between them made directly for Ferdan's face, but he managed to grab both sides of his jaw and prevent it from closing long enough to remove his head from snapping distance.   
A massive paw appeared out of now where and swiped his hands away from the mouth, "This is where you run Galion!" Ferdan yelled after catching the breifst glimpse of Thranduil getting slammed into the ground by a pissed off looking troll.   
The Warg made another attempt to eat his face, and Ferdan just hardly managing to save himself. Desperately his hand searched the ground for a pointed rock, finding the closest he could find, Ferdan brought it up to smash it repeatedly into the Wargs face.   
The creature backed away with a surprised howl, blooding starting to run from five different decently deep stab wounds on his face and one on his neck. The Warg snarled with renewed anger, and Galion's covered the last bit of it, "Ferdan!"   
He dared turn his eyes from his opponent, disobeying the first rule when it came to fighting a Warg. Don't break eye contact, don't leave yourself vulnerable. But the fear that another had appeared and Galion was in dire danger was enough to make him ignore Oropher and Thingol's firm and lecturing voices from his head.   
He looked to the shoreline where he had left Galion but did not find him there, and so he looked to his other side and found him near in the middle of the dry riverbed. Ferdan's sword held in his hand.   
As soon as their eyes met, Galion threw the sword.   
And as soon as Ferdan's hand met it, he turned it on the Warg he knew was advancing for his life. This time though, the Warg wasn't able to stop himself before he fully impaled himself on the sword.   
"Ha," Ferdan laughed without humor as he stared into its angry and dying eyes, "Not so clever the second time are you?"   
Then he ripped the sword out, and the Warg slumped to the ground and added its blood to the river.   
After his head stopped rattling, Thranduil heard Ferdan calling for Galion to jump into the water and leave them and guessed that Ferdan was doing about as as good as him in this moment. As he stared up at the massive troll that was stomping towards him with extreme intent.   
"Oh, Eru." Thranduil muttered when he realized that the troll had plans of fighting him hand to hand anymore. But by throwing huge objects with the hopes of squishing him like a bug it would seem.   
As fast as he had ever done, Thranduil scuttled across the the rocks and moved out of the way just in time for the rock to land next to him, instead of directly on top if him. Before he could even get to his feet, two more huge rocks were sailing his way.   
"You've got to be kidding me!" Thranduil cried when he noticed two other projectiles had been acquired and one was already on its way to him. The next not much far behind. Then two more.   
He seemed ready to throw another set when the Troll froze, and the boulder rolled out of his hand with a crash which shattered it into much smaller pieces. Then, without much ceremony or warning the troll fell forward limply, revealing Ferdan standing behind him with a sword dripping with troll blood. Several of his throwing knives were embedded along its spine so serve as ladder so that Ferdan could reached its brainstem.   
Slowly the dust settled around them.   
Then the two friends burst into what could only be explain as hysterical laughter, once again hardly able to hold themselves upright with the power of it.   
"Who would have guessed?" Ferdan managed to ask.   
"Me! I would have guessed!" Galion all but screamed, very much not laughing like his friends, "And I did guess! And you both told me I was insane! Right up until the trolls!"   
"If it makes you feel any better," Ferdan offered, "I still think you're insane. Who lets themselves get talked into insanity but two known spreaders of said insanity. They all but have a poser of us in the city square."   
"I'm going to put one up as soon as we get home," Galion snapped.  
Thranduil seemed to find this very amusing, "You would not be the first."   
"Alarming! I don't think you understand how alarming that it is!"   
"To be fair," Ferdan said, "We are almost certain every single one of them was Oropher's doing.At the very least it was done upon his order."  
"Wait!" Thranduil called, suddenly losing all humor, "Galion, what happened to the turtle?"   
Galion stared at him dumbfounded, "You're worried about the turtle? In a time like this?"   
"Yes! Now where is he!" Thranduil asked with near distress.   
With an obvious sigh, Galion walked a few paces and picked something up and off of a large rock and walked back to hand it to Thranduil with tender care. Thranduil accepted it gratefully and held him close to his face, "Hello little thing! I was so worried about you!"   
"Thanks," Galion said sarcastically, "You drag me out here to die and you're worried about the turtle."   
"Well I already know that you're safe," Thranduil said, still not taking his eyes off the baby turtle, "What would be the point of still worrying? Just curious."   
"I hate you both."   
And with those four words, they were sent back into hysterical fits of laughter. 

When the three of them approached the worn wood of his fence and gate, they stopped. Despite all of the joking, both Ferdan and Thranduil had both checked his well-being in their own unique and incredibly subtle ways. The sun looked like it was just preparing to slide itself into the sky when Thranduil said, "We ought to get home, I'm sure Ada is already awake or will be soon."   
Galion smiled, "Have you decided if you're telling him about the trolls or not?"   
Ferdan and Thranduil exchanged looks before Ferdan answered, "I think we might just stick with the Wargs..." Without waiting for a reply or for Thranduil to follow him, Ferdan began to walk home through the sleepy morning streets, whistling all the while.   
To Galion's surprised Thranduil lingered behind, "I wanted to talk to you about something."   
"Oh?" Was all he could think to ask.   
"I think Ada has decided that he will leave the city, leading any who want to go with him. He'll go east and find a new home, a more suiting one."   
Galion could hear his heart sink with disappointment, "Oh."   
He had known that he could not have this job forever. In fact, when Galion had accepted the position he didn't think he would have it longer than a few months. But now that he knew Thranduil would be leaving, he knew Oropher would not be parted from his son, the idea of losing the job was near heartbreaking.   
Or maybe it was at the idea of losing this new life he loved so much, for the first time since he could remember.   
"I wanted to invite you to join us, when we go. Don't answer now, just think about it. I wont be offended if the answer is no."   
His heart used those words like a ladder to get back into his proper place, "I'll think about it. I'll have to talk to my sisters."   
Thranduil smiled, and it was only then that Galion realized he only did so when he was in relative isolation. He wondered how few people in Lindon had probably ever seen him smile, "Of course. If you'll excuse me." He did not wait for a reply before Thranduil raced down the street after Ferdan, leaping onto his shoulders with ease and nearly causing both of them to crash to the ground.  
Galion could still hear their badly stifled laughter as he opened his gate to go inside, already noticing the way his sisters were clumped in the dining room waiting for a full report of the events that transpired. He h


End file.
